Tennessee college announces racist notes were a hoax
Another day, another campus hate crime hoax.
This time it is at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of our Campus Safety officers and the Memphis Police Department, the investigation into the hate crime that occurred recently on our campus has ended with the identification of the perpetrator and the conclusion this incident was fabricated,” Rhodes College told The College Fix via email on Thursday.
“This individual has admitted responsibility,” the media team told The Fix. “This matter has caused enormous pain to our community, and we are taking the appropriate steps to hold this individual accountable, including all legal avenues that may be available to us.”
The college told The Fix it would not be publicly identifying the person or their “relationship” to Rhodes.
“The message was discovered earlier this month, strewn across the National Panhellenic Council Plaza, which is the only space on campus to pay tribute to the historically Black sororities and fraternities,” according to Action 5 News.
The notes were left over Thanksgiving break.
“They were vulgar,” student Lauren Roberts told WREG 3 last week. “‘F N-word, Trump Rules,’” that’s what it said,” according to her.
“Rhodes needs to find whoever did it, immediately,” Roberts told Action 5. “They are saying they are investigating and doing this and that and the third but it’s been — two weeks and you still haven’t found anybody that’s kind of like a bumper to the black community, in my opinion.”
The perpetrator, who remains unidentified, admitted to the act. Prior to the revelation, students held a silent protest in the school library, according to Action 5.
Action 5 News said the person reporting the incident actually left the notes.
“We are a community that is firmly committed to diversity, inclusion, belonging, civility, and respect, and we do not tolerate racial bias or hate speech,” the college said at the time. It hosted a “campus culture” meeting after the notes were found.
Campus hate incidents sometimes fall apart, as documented by The Fix.
For example, Pennsylvania State University cleared its fans last year of using racial slurs during a men’s basketball game against Rutgers University.
At Wayne State University, police concluded a black female student likely vandalized her own door with eggs.
The student, Zoriana Martinez, had also claimed, apparently falsely, the university had forced her out of her dorm room. Instead, the school said, it offered her alternative housing, which she declined. It let her out of her residence hall contract with a full refund.
The Fix will exclusively report on another hate crime hoax in the coming days.
MORE: Black student charged for ‘BLACK PEOPLE DON’T BELONG’ hoax
IMAGE: Action 5 News
Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.